Green Building makes book of best re-used
buildings around the world

The Green Building, Gill and Augusta Holland’s revolutionary building at 732 E. Market St. in NuLu, is getting international attention.

Stuttgart, Germany-based architecture expert and art historian Chris van Uffelen has included The Green Building in a new book documenting creative re-use of abandoned historic buildings and significant structures no longer being put to the best, highest uses.

Uffelen’s new “Re-Use Architecture” lists 100 projects from around the world, according to a publisher’s synopsis.

Last week, Gill Holland told our favorite LEO reporter, Phillip Bailey, that The Green Building has received a LEED Platinum rating, the highest “Green” rating from the U.S. Green Building Council.

The building, which houses a number of businesses including the Hollands’ The Group Entertainment LLC, is the first commercial building in Kentucky to receive a Platinum rating.

The coffee-table sized book includes The Green Building and other significant projects including:

Siobhan Davies Dance Company in Southwark, Great Britain by architect Sarah Wigglesworth.

The Russian headquarters of L’Oréal in Kiev, Ukraine by firm m2r.

Banquet hall and restaurant The Tote in Mumbai, India by Serie Architects.

Other “Re-Use Architecture” projects include a police station converted to a cinema, a power transformer station converted to a synagogue and a swimming pool that transformed into an art center. Here’s a synopsis from pubisher Braun Publishing AG:

Societal and economic transitions have left numerous buildings redundant. Thanks to the esteem enjoyed by any sort of historic building fabric, an increasing awareness of sustainability issues as well as economic considerations, unused structures are now frequently being examined to determine what kind of new use might be suitable. These considerations take place in an area of tension between the poles of functional use of existing architecture as raw material, conscious inclusion of historical significance and radical new architectural interpretations.

“Re-Use Architecture” has 954 illustrations in its hefty 408 pages and goes for $99.95. Just in time for Christmas.